Pneumatic shovel



ALONZO w. KANE-Y, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR or ONE-THIRD TO ROBERTE. L.

JANNEY, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC SHOVEL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A g. 31, 1920.

Application filed December 21, 1917. Serial No. 208,203.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, ALoNzo W. KANEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Shovels, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an excavating shovel and has for its objectthe provision of means whereby labor may be more efiiciently employed inexcavating and handling material.

A further object of my invention is the provision of an excavatingshovel provided with impact means for driving it into the material to beexcavated, thus decreasing the necessary labor in excavating.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent as it isbetter understood by reference to the following specification when readin connection with the,

accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment thereof, inwhich- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my excavator; and

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a slightly different form of myinvention.

Laborers engaged in excavating have heretofore been provided withordinary shovels which are kicked into the earth by the user. Thisinvolves a large expenditure of energy, particularly, in hard soils.Such shovels are, therefore, inefficient in operation, the amount ofearth moved at each operation being relatively insignificant. Toovercome the inherent disadvantage of ordinary shovels as above setforth, I have provided a hovel having impact means which drives theshovel into the earth independently of the efforts of the user so thatall his energy may be employed in lifting the shovel and conveying thecontents to the proper place or receptacle.

One form of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which5 indicates the shovel blade which may be of the form indicated or ofany other suitable shape. The blade 5 is connected to a shank 6,preferably slightly tapered at its end. This shank extends into andsnugly fits in the end of a pneumatic hammer 7 provided with v the endof the shank 6. The pneumatic hammer 7 may be fed from a suitable sourceof air under pressure (not shown) through ahose 8. Obviously when theblade of the shovel rests upon the 'earth and the pneumatic hammer 7 isoperated, the blade will besteadily driven into the earth with arapidity which depends upon the resistance met. The speed of operationis considerably greater than is possible where the shovel is kicked intothe earth in the well-known manner. Preferably a D or other form ofhandle 9 1s secured to the upper end of the pneumatic hammer '7. Theblade 5 may, if desired, be considerably larger than the blade of anordinary shovel, the device being adapted for use by two individualssimultaneously. A stirrup 10 may be secured to the pneumatic hammer 7.By resting his foot in the stirrup the operator may hold the blade incontact with the material to be excavated. Obviously the form of theblade may be varied and may take the shape of a plow 11 (Fig. 2) whichis advanced through the earth to turn up a furrow when held in properposition and actuated by the pneumatic hammer. The form of my inventionillustrated in T ig. 2 makes a very desirable trenching i100 i From theforegoing it will be readily understood thatl have perfected anexcavating tool of simple and relatively inexpensive construction whichpresents numerous advantages over ordinary shovels and will enable thelaborers, whether working singly or together to accomplish more workthan parting from the splrit or scope of the invention or sacrificingany of its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described beingmerely the preferred embodiments thereof.

4 I claim: 1. A pneumatic shovel comprising a blade, a shank for saidblade, a power driven pneumatic hammer mounted on the upper end of theshank in alinement therewith and having impact means to engage the endof the shank, and a grip on the upper end of the hdnlmer said shankhammer and ri con- 11 nor 0nd of the hammer and a stirrn sest-itutingthe handle of the shovel. ('lll'tli to the hammer and arranged in :uljn-2. A pneumatic shovel comprising a blzule rent relation to the hhulo.

a shank for said blade, a pneumatic hammer v ALOXZO W. RANI'IY. mountedon the upper end of the shank and 'itnesses: I comprising power drivenimpact means to ERNEST H. MERCHANT,

engage the end of the shank, a grip on the M. A. Kmnm.

